I Am The Swarm

Force is mutual. Although the Primordial Body projectiles had undergone some targeted upgrades in armor compared to ordinary Primordial Bodies, allowing them to withstand minor collisions during flight, they couldn’t ignore the metal shield formed by tens of thousands of unmanned drones.

The collision in space was silent, but the scene was gruesome. The Primordial Body projectile was instantly shattered into scattered biological tissue. Some of the Mature bodies and Larval bodies inside managed to survive, only to be torn apart by the scattered metal debris from the unmanned drones.

However, no matter how much they tried to defend, there were always moments when they couldn’t cover everything. The unmanned drone squadrons struggled to intercept each Primordial Body projectile, but the Desolation-Class Motherships’ rapid-fire mode showed no signs of stopping.

Finally, one Primordial Body projectile broke through the multiple layers of defense and approached the Yuntu fleet. When it was only thirty thousand kilometers away, the projectile suddenly unfurled its coiled body, bursting with dazzling blue electric arcs as its propulsion modules activated at full power.

The Primordial Body projectile was simply too fast. The thirty-thousand-kilometer braking distance generated such a strong counterforce that it nearly crushed itself. However, during its deceleration, it encountered the Yuntu fleet’s final line of resistance.

The Yuntu ships’ secondary cannons finally found their use. The fire control systems locked onto the decelerating Primordial Body, and thousands of cannons fired simultaneously! The first Primordial Body projectile to break through the unmanned drone defense line received the VIP treatment.

The Yuntu Race’s technology was indeed advanced. Even their secondary ship cannons utilized dark energy technology. This made it impossible for the Primordial Body biological armor, which could withstand ordinary energy-based secondary cannons, to survive this barrage.

Dodging was out of the question. In the face of such saturation fire, any attempt to maneuver was futile. However, just before the barrage hit, the Primordial Body projectile opened its storage sacs, releasing the Mature bodies and Larval bodies inside.

Tens of thousands of cannon shots arrived, instantly reducing the Primordial Body to dust. Due to the wide coverage of the barrage, most of the released Mature bodies and Larval bodies were also annihilated.

With the energy annihilation, the crisis was completely averted.

But by this point, the unmanned drone defense line was full of holes. More Primordial Body projectiles broke through the multiple layers of defense and reached close proximity to the Yuntu fleet.

The secondary cannons fired frantically, struggling to maintain this last line of defense.

However, as more and more unmanned drones were destroyed, not only were the Primordial Body projectiles becoming harder to intercept, but the ordinary Swarm forces had also closed in.

Mature bodies, Larval bodies, and Spider Combat Bugs patrolled and protected the Primordial Bodies, intercepting and destroying any unmanned drones that tried to approach. Meanwhile, the Primordial Bodies took advantage of the chaos to cross the explosion zones and approach the Yuntu fleet.

The pressure on the secondary cannons increased dramatically. The continuous firing pushed their systems to the limit. If this continued, they might self-destruct before long.

But the Yuntu Race could no longer afford to worry about that. All unmanned drones had been deployed. If this charge failed to break through the encirclement, there would be no second chance. They couldn’t let all their efforts go to waste because of secondary cannon issues.

However, more and more Primordial Body projectiles were breaking through the unmanned drone defense line. After releasing the contents of their storage sacs, they prepared to charge.

But just as the secondary cannons turned to fire, the Primordial Bodies came to an abrupt halt, sidestepped, and performed small-scale evasive maneuvers—a specialty of the Primordial Body. With a few quick movements, they dodged two cannon shots.

The “unruliness” of the Primordial Bodies forced the Yuntu Race to allocate more firepower to deal with them. However, the Primordial Bodies were not Larval bodies. Two energy main cannons took advantage of the situation and fired.

The Yuntu ships lacked the ability to perform small-scale agile evasions and could only rely on their reactive armor to withstand the hits. The current formation wasn’t suited for frequent repositioning, causing the outer ships to suffer heavy casualties in a short time.

At the same time, the Mature bodies and Larval bodies that had been released also attracted some of the firepower. But their numbers far exceeded those of the Primordial Bodies, and their smaller size and greater mobility made them even harder to target.

The result of the dispersed secondary cannon fire was that they could no longer defend against the fastest Primordial Body projectiles. Now, they had no choice but to abandon defending against some targets to relieve the pressure on the secondary cannons.

The Primordial Body projectiles became their choice. These things were the fastest and the hardest to defend against. However, their numbers were relatively small. Although the Desolation-Class Motherships fired them almost non-stop, there were only about a thousand Desolation-Class Motherships, so the total number of Primordial Body projectiles they could launch was limited.

But the Yuntu Race had severely underestimated the Primordial Bodies’ close-combat capabilities. Among the forces that had fought the Swarm, only the early Riken fleets had experienced large-scale breaches by Larval bodies. After that, the Swarm rarely engaged in close combat—either the enemy retreated voluntarily, or they didn’t last long enough to reach that stage.

As a result, the Confederation had very little data on the Space Octopuses’ close-combat abilities. Based on their structure and limited information, it was speculated that they were strong in close combat, but no one knew exactly how strong.

Fortunately, they now had the chance to witness it firsthand.

The Primordial Body projectiles, having encountered little resistance, surged forward with blue electric arcs crackling across their bodies, “slamming on the brakes” as they charged into the Yuntu fleet. As one passed by a ship, its two longest tentacles, nearly four hundred meters long, grabbed onto the ship’s protruding command tower. With a spinning motion, it used the ship’s own momentum to try and fling it away.

But the ship had its dignity. A four-thousand-meter-long metal hull couldn’t possibly be flung away by a five-hundred-meter-long “little thing.” However, despite the vast difference in size and weight, the zero-gravity environment of space meant there was no solid footing. While the Primordial Body couldn’t fling the ship away, it did manage to pull it off course.

It’s important to note that the ship was already in motion, and at a considerable speed. The Primordial Body’s action was so sudden that the Yuntu crew didn’t have time to adjust before their ship collided with a nearby friendly vessel.

A side-on collision at high speed, combined with the ship’s mass, caused the out-of-control vessel to slice into the friendly ship like a blade. The reactive armor, which could withstand Primordial Body main cannon fire, was as fragile as paper against this kind of physical impact.

The friendly ship was cut in half. The front section continued to fly forward, while the severed midsection sparked with electrical discharges from short circuits. Explosions erupted from within, and large amounts of equipment, debris, and even flailing Yuntu crew members were sucked out into space.

Those lucky enough to be wearing protective suits could hold on a little longer, while others in casual clothing were frozen in place shortly after being ejected.